Assault suspect pepper sprayed after threatening police

MARYSVILLE — A man suspected of beating his pregnant girlfriend reportedly was unimpressed Thursday afternoon when warned that he risked being pepper sprayed if he didn’t stop threatening to assault Marysville police.

“I eat that (expletive) for breakfast,” the man, 41, allegedly said as he walked toward one of the officers who was investigating a domestic violence call at a home in the 16300 block of Smokey Point Boulevard.

The officer later wrote that he felt the man was going to assault him, so he sprayed him “directly in the face with my department issued pepper spray.”

The reaction was immediate. The suspect reportedly sat down in a chair that was in the driveway and quickly was placed into handcuffs.

Moments earlier, he had been colorfully describing his plans for assaulting one of the officers, according to police reports.

The suspect’s girlfriend told police that he’d punched her in the face and repeatedly kicked her in the stomach during the attack, which was reported about 4:15 p.m.

The woman told police that she is three months pregnant and was holding a small child at the time. She was taken to an area hospital for treatment of a possible broken nose.

The man was arrested for investigation of second-degree assault and malicious mischief. The inside of the home was described as having been “destroyed” during the violence before police arrived.